Guiding Spirits
by SETI-fan
Summary: Set after Frozen 2. When a boy gets lost in the woods on a winter's night, he's fortunate the elements are watching out for him.


The wind howled ever colder, making Harald huddle closer against the trunk of a tree, shivering fiercely. This was a mistake. He never should have come out here. And now he was going to freeze to death all because he'd been stupid and foolish.

He never should have listened to Rolf. But Rolf and his friends were bragging about their latest hunting trip with their fathers and all the younger boys were listening and Rolf said he had gone all the way up to the ice palace and back. Harald had called him a liar, said that nobody was allowed to go to the ice palace, and Rolf said he was just too much of a baby to get to go.

And then all the bigger boys had laughed and Harald had run home, embarrassed. So he snuck out after classes were done and instead of going home, he headed up the mountain. He was determined to prove to Rolf and all the rest of them that he wasn't a baby or a coward. If they could do it, so could he.

But the snow was thicker than he thought once he got out of the boundaries of Arendelle and it took longer than he thought. And before long night had started falling, and with it a blustery winter storm had blown in. And now it was dark and he could no longer remember which way he had come from, the snow burying any footprints he had left behind him. He didn't know where the ice palace was and he didn't know where Arendelle was either. He was lost, alone, in a bitter frozen forest.

He shivered, trying not to cry as he tried to push himself closer to the trunk of the tree. It didn't block much wind, but it was all he had. He curled in closer on himself, hating Rolf and hating the other boys for laughing and wishing he'd just gone home where his mother would have dinner and a fire waiting. And now he was probably never going to see her or his father again…

As Harald sniffled, another gust blew around him. But somehow, this one didn't feel as cold as the rest. He thought maybe he was just going completely numb, but the breeze almost felt gentle. It brushed against his cheek for a moment, then continued on and he was back to being whipped with snow and biting cold. Had to just be his imagination.

He was getting to the point that he couldn't feel his hands and feet very well anymore and accepting he was going to be a frozen icicle stuck on the mountain forever…when the wind suddenly stopped.

Carefully, he opened his eyes. The snow that had piled around him was dissolving away, the storm gusts parting around the tree, but creating an open clearing around him. There, at the border of where the wind picked up again, he saw a woman dressed in a white dress standing, white hair blowing around her, but the snow avoiding her and the ground between them.

She moved forward, crouching in front of him. "Hey, you okay?"

He stared at her. Of course he recognized her immediately. Everyone in Arendelle knew her. He nodded hard, still shivering violently.

"Come on, let's get you out of the cold. Bruni?"

He had to be dreaming, lulled into sleep by the bitter cold. He saw a little ball of purple fire race over to the woman, jumping into her hands. The flames lowered, becoming barely a glow, like a coal at the end of the night.

"Here. This will help." She extended her hands out to him. Harald pulled back reflexively and she held one hand up reassuringly. "It's okay. He knows to be gentle. Go ahead."

Curiosity overcoming fear, the boy looked closer and saw a small lizard perched in her hands, watching him with wide, friendly eyes. Cautiously, he held out his hands and the lizard crawled over into them. The warmth was instant and felt so good, like a hot waterskin, that he almost cried. He hugged the lizard close to his chest, letting the warmth soak in, and the lizard snuggled in, cooing reassuringly.

"That's better," the woman said, smiling. "Are you ready to stand up? I have a feeling people are looking for you."

He frowned, memory flooding back as his mind was feeling clearer now. "Nobody's looking for me. I didn't tell anyone where I went."

"Hm." She arched an eyebrow. "Maybe, but either way, we'd better get you back home. You're from Arendelle, right?"

He nodded. He was gonna be in so much trouble when he got home. But it was so cold up here. He guessed freezing was worse than being grounded.

"All right. If you're ready, we should get going. That storm's going to make it harder for people to find you once they do start looking."

"You're going with me?" he asked, slightly amazed.

"Of course." She made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm not going to leave you to walk home by yourself. Riding's much faster."

He noticed a shape moving past her and almost jumped as a large, blue horse appeared through the snow. But he remembered seeing that horse every time she visited town, how it ran across the waters of the fjord, mane and tail flowing like a fountain. He looked up at her with wide eyes. "I get to ride him?"

"I can't think of a faster way to get you home. Come on. You can hold onto Bruni."

The lizard chirped again, smiling up at him. Harald felt the warmth not just on his hands but inside his chest too.

He still couldn't fully believe this was real as the woman gently lifted him up onto the bowing water horse. He almost expected to fall through its back, like falling into a lake, but it felt similar to a normal horse, except colder. Not cold enough to be uncomfortable, though, especially with the fire lizard warming his hands.

The woman settled behind him, keeping him steady as the horse stood. He noticed that it was true, that there were no reins or saddle, yet the horse trotted along calmly and tamely.

As they started down the mountain, a pathway opened ahead of them through the storm, extending all the way down back toward where he could now imagine the fjord was.

They trotted along, sheltered despite the storm raging around them. Harald gently threaded the fingers of one hand through the horse's mane. It wasn't water now, more strings of ice, almost like the tinsel that draped on their Christmas tree. Warmer and feeling a little less afraid, he carefully looked up at the woman, her long white hair flowing around them both like a cloak.

"You really are the queen, aren't you?"

She smiled, looking down at him. "I used to be. My sister is now."

He nodded, remembering Queen Anna's coronation a bit even though he'd been kind of young. "Why'd you stop?"

She drew a deep breath. "Well, we needed someone to look after the forest and the Northuldra too. And Anna is perfectly suited to running Arendelle."

"Yeah. I just don't know how anyone gives up a castle to live in the woods."

The woman chuckled. "My sister says that a lot too. But I don't just live in the woods." She leaned down to whisper by his ear. "I live in a glacier too."

"Really?" He gasped in spite of himself.

"Mm-hm. But I think you know about me already. What are you doing out here by yourself?"

He looked down again, his excitement fading. "The kid who lives next door said he'd gone all the way up to the ice palace by himself and the rest of us were too scared to even leave the town. I was gonna prove him wrong. But…" He felt tears of embarrassment trying to form. "I got lost."

"Well, now you're found. But you're lucky my friend Gale saw you. It's really dangerous up here. Even grown-ups know better than to come up here alone."

He frowned. "_You_ were up here alone."

She smiled a little. "I'm never alone. And one thing I've learned is doing things by yourself doesn't always mean you're braver. If you have people who love you and will go with you, you should treasure that."

He thought of his parents back home, his friends. "I guess." He tried a little bit of humor. "I did get to ride on a cool horse, though."

The water horse gave a little whicker. The woman looked down at him, one brow arched with a bit of amusement, if also a bit of scolding. "This time. But in the future, if you're going to do something crazy, make sure you're doing it to help someone, not just to make yourself look better."

He wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Good."

They rode quietly for a moment, but she seemed thoughtful.

"When you're older, you may want to talk to the king or General Mattias," she said at last. "Arendelle could use brave people, _if_ they're willing to use their courage to protect others."

His eyes widened. "You think so?"

"I know so. And I'll let you in on a secret too." She leaned down again. "Your neighbor never came up to the ice palace. I would have known."

Harald had to admit, that did make him feel a little bit better.

They cleared the crest of a hill and he saw the path of clear weather continue and widen. At the bottom, a whole group of people were trudging up the path, torches glowing in the dark. Dozens of them. Like, the whole town…

"Whoa…"

"Looks like someone was looking for you after all," the woman said warmly.

"Yeah."

"There she is!" he heard a voice call up from the crowd. A cheer went up.

The horse seemed to pick up its head a little bit, as if pleased now to have an audience. They descended the hill and the boy knew he would never have a chance like this again and he should be sitting taller, showing off that he was getting to ride home on a magic horse with the Snow Queen. But all he could focus on were his parents racing ahead of the crowd toward them.

And the image got blurry with tears.

"You have him? Is he okay?" his mother asked.

"He's fine," the woman said as she slowed the horse to a stop before them. "And I think very happy to be home."

Harald was swept up then, the lizard squirming out of his arms as his mother pulled him down from the horse in a hug and cried into his shoulder, holding him tightly. He started crying too, suddenly feeling really small and ashamed that he had made his mother cry.

His father embraced them both, then looked over them to the woman still on the horse. "Thank you, eternally. Your majesty, how can we ever repay you?"

"There's nothing to repay. I'm just glad the spirits found him before something bad happened."

"I don't know what we would have done without you," his mother said. "Bless you, your highness."

"And thank you, Gale, for coming and letting us know which way to go," said a familiar voice.

Harald's eyes widened, embarrassment flooding his cheeks again. The queen and king had come all the way out with the search party?!

In the still bubble around them, a little gust of wind blew around Queen Anna, then through Harald's hair. He remembered the warmer breeze among the storm and felt a little awestruck again.

His mother suddenly pushed back, gripping his shoulders. "What were you thinking, going up the mountain by yourself?!"

Harald gulped. Suddenly, with his parents and the entire town and the queen and king and the Snow Queen around, everything he had done just felt stupid and silly.

"Apparently, there's a bit of a dare going around," the Snow Queen spoke up, letting her gaze fall pointedly on a cluster of older boys who were huddling beside their fathers. "Fortunately, he found his way up to the ice palace, so we had some shelter and a good conversation before it was time to bring him home."

Harald looked up at her in disbelief, then back to the boys. He saw Rolf shrinking a bit, catching Harald's eyes, then glaring at the ground.

"In the future, though," the Snow Queen continued, "I'd prefer people not show up without warning."

"Of course, your highness." His father fixed Harald with a stern glare. "I don't think he'll be doing that again, will you, son?"

Harald swallowed, shuffling his feet. "No, dad."

"Good," his mother agreed. "Now let's get you inside and warm you up. Your highness, please, let us at least offer you a meal and a drink. It's the least we can do."

The Snow Queen hesitated now, suddenly looking much younger than she had the whole journey back. "Well…"

"She would love to," the queen interjected cheerfully. "Since she's in town, of course she's going to be staying the night, right?"

Harald watched her sigh a bit, but fix the queen with a fond smile. It was odd, he thought. He never would have expected the 'Snow Queen' to be so warm.

"All right," she agreed. "Just for the night."

She slid off the horse. "Gale, let me know if anyone else gets in trouble tonight, all right?"

The gust blew around her hair, then fluttered off into the woods. She set the lizard onto the horse's back. "I'll see the rest of you in the morning too. Thank you for your help."

The horse bowed its head and the lizard cooed, then they too disappeared beyond the veil of magic.

As they headed back home, Harald heard Queen Anna whisper to her sister, "I thought you never spent time at the ice palace anymore?"

He glanced back over his shoulder nervously, but the Snow Queen just smiled back at him and gave him a wink.

He smiled too and settled in to listening to his mother's scolding, grateful to be back with her and heading for home.

OOO

It was a curiosity to many historians and academics in the generations to come that while the majority of Nordic cultures wrote of winter as a harsh and cruel force, art and stories from Arendelle and the Northuldra began to invariably depict winter as a kind, gentle woman in white. One who was spoken of as a protector of the lands and someone who guided the lost home safely.

It even became tradition in the region to leave offerings of food or drink when venturing out on long treks during the winter, and to always treat the elements of nature with respect, for who knew what might be watching as you traveled?

And while children were warned not to venture away from home at night, they were always told to call on the winter winds if they got lost, so they may be found faster. For the woman in white took her role as protector of her kingdoms seriously, and as long as she was around, no one had to fear the cold.


End file.
